Magazine loom with feeler at the front of the magazine



Dec. 19, 1944. STUER 2,365,362

MAGAZINE LOOM WITH FEELER AT THE FRONT OF THE MAGAZINE Filed March 5,1940 5 Sheets-Sheet l FIE.1.

INVENTOR.

Dec; 19, 1944. ER 2,365,362

MAGAZINE LOOM WITH FEELER. AT THE FRONT OF THE MAGAZINE Filed March 5,1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 V [my BY J) /g%NTOR.

/?MWW- ATTORNEY.

J. STUER Dec. 19, 1944.

MAGAZINE LOOM WITH FEELER AT THE FRONT OF THE MAGAZINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 5Filed March 5, 1940 INVENTOR.

" ATTORNEY.

.of the bobbin which is near depletion.

Patented Dec. 19, 1944 UNITED MAGAZINE LOOM WITH FEELER AT THE FRONT OFTHE MAGAZINE Joseph Stuer, Lawrence, Mass.

' Application March 5, 1940, Serial No. 322,308

Claims.

This invention relates to automatic looms. There are plain loomsattached to each of which is a magazin for holding a substantial numberof bobbins, such magazine being of the rotary or the fixed type, themagazine being associated with a feeler which is brought in contact witha bobbin in a shuttle, usually when the lay beats up, the parts being soarranged that when the thread or filling on the bobbin in a workingshuttle has almost run out or is near depletion, the feeler moves in adifferent way from when the bobbin is full and sets the transfer devicesin such a way that a new, full bobbin is forced into the shuttle, thusforcing out the old bobbin and taking its place. This is called atransfer.

There are'also looms in each of which on either one side or both sides,there is a movable shuttle box with a number of cells, each to receive ashuttle when it is picked across on the lay beam.

Pattern mechanism is provided to move the boxes on either one side orboth sides to bring the desired cell or cells to the level of the raceon the lay beam to discharge or receive a shuttle. These shuttles may beprovided with bobbins, the thread of which is a different color orquality or the bobbins in all the shuttles may contain thread ofsubstantially the same character.

As a rule with such fancy looms, when a bobbin is near depletion orexhaustion, the loom must be stopped and a new bobbin put in its placeby hand. With such looms there is no need of a feeler or of transfermechanism.

There are also looms in which on one side there is a shifting shuttlebox or drop box with a plurality of shuttle cells while on the otherside there is a single stationary shuttle box associated with a magazineand feeler and transfer device, the magazine containing, if desired,bobbins of diiferent colored thread, there being also a provision forindicating that the bobbin of a particular color or kind in a particularshuttle is near depletion so that a. full bobbin of the same charatcercan automatically take the place Such looms are provided with what isknown as a color uniform cloth. This is accomplished in various ways,one way being shown in patent to Baker for Loom for mixing filling, No.2,093,629, September 21, 1937.

My present device is for the purpose of providing a loom in which thereare three or more shuttles which follow one another in picking in apie-arranged sequence, there being on one side a drop box or movableshuttle box having a plurality of shuttle cells, preferably four, whileon the other side, there is a movable shuttle box or drop box with twocells in a position under a bobbin magazine. As shown, this magazine isnot of the rotary type but of the fixed type with a plurality ofvertical bobbin guide ways associated with What are known as cradles,one at the bottom of each guide way, and vertical slide bars each ofwhich operates a cradle together with a transferrer, all similar toanother application of mine pending herewith on Bobbin transfermechanism for looms withstationary magazine, filed June 29, 1940, SerialNo. 343,230.

The particular feature of this invention is the use of a feeler on themagazine side of such a loom but at the front instead of at the backwith the feeler moving up and down in the body of the loom in accordancewith the up and down movement of the shuttle box under the magazine.This feeler follows the top cell of this box under the magazine.

As shown, I use'such a feeler on the front on the magazine sideassociated with and oiperating actuator mechanism similar to that shownin my pending application for United States Letters Patent Serial No.250,055, filed January 24, 1939, except that in that application, thedevice is shown as operating a cutter and a transfer dog with a rotarymagazine while indicating mechanism which causes the bobbin of the rightcolor to be transferred into the right shuttle.

It has been found that even two bobbins from the same spinning andtwisting frame differ somewhat and it has been found desirable to havethese shuttles, even with the same thread, alternately picked across asthis produces a more in this, it is used with a fixed, multiple guideslot magazine and with movable shuttle boxes or drop boxes under such amagazine. The purpose of this device is to release such an actuator froma trigger arm which normally holds it and the actuator spring out ofaction.

I can use a feeler with a mechanical connection to this trigger arm or Ican use a feeler which closes a switch in an electric circuit whichcircuit operates a magnet or solenoid which disengages such a triggerarm.

I will call the stationary loom structure including the ends, braces,stud shafts and breast beam, the loom body to distinguish that part fromthe lay and the other moving parts.

With any of the usual shuttle shifting arrangements, the sequence of theshuttles in any particular box can be arranged as in the patent to JohnJ. McCann and to myself, Joseph Stuer, July 11, 1939, No. 2,166,071. Inthat case, a shuttle box with two cells under a rotary magazine is usedWhere in this case, a box with two cells under a stationary magazine isused. In this application the feeler is at the front while in the PatentNo. 2,166,071, it is at the back.

In operating this device as shownfor a single pick loom, there is ashuttle in the bottom box when the shuttle to be felt is picked into thetop box. The lay moves forward and. the shuttle in the top box moves up,being felt as. it moves, and when the lay moves back, the shuttle in thebottom box is picked so that whenthe lay again moves forward and thetransfer is accomplished in the top box, there is no shuttle in thebottom box.

The time interval between feeling and transfer is, therefore, almostexactly'one complete picking interval including the time between. whichthe lay moves slightly forward and then back and then almost to thefront.

From the start, of feeling to the end of transfer is-slightly morethan'one'full pick.

In the drawings; Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic front elevation of' a wellknown type of loom with movable dropboxeson each side and a station arymagazine, therebeing two boxes only on the magazine side, this being thepreferred arrangement for my attachments, the working parts being brokenaway to expose the background.

Fig. 2' is an isometric view'from' the front left of a loom with mydevices in place.

Fig. 3 is an elevation from the right of a transferrer and its'dog whenthe dogi's first engaged by the bunter in full lines, and in dottedlines showing the extreme movement of the bunter and dog duringtransfer.

Figs. 4' and 5-- are details asfrom the leftsh'owing the position oftheactuat'or, dog and'bunter before and after the actuator isreleasedfrom the trigger arm.

Fig. 6=is a detail= partly in section'as'from' the back showing one ofthe magazine slides and withthe paddle wheel which moves it.

Fig. 7 isa detailshowing the two pawls'which control the movement ofthe'paddle' wheel and shaft.

Fig. 8 is a detail showing; the-preferred type of rocker arm and triggerarm in full lines in" the normal position and in dotted lines after theactuator has-been'released'.

Fig. 9- is a plan view ofa feeler with its top plate removed. Infulllinesit shows thenormal position of the feeling finger and in dottedlines its position when it is pushed-back and in-other dotted lines,when it slips on a bobbin;

Fig. 1015 a plan view of a feeler when' itsslide. and feeling finger areretracted during'transfer.

Fig. 11 is an elevation'as from the right showing the manner in whichthe feeler slide ismoved up and'down.

Figs. 12 and 13.. are side elevations similar to where the rocker armhasreleased the ,dog. and the dog has just come up. intotransferringposition while the dotted lines show the feeler slidewithdrawn by the transferrer at the end of its transfer action on thenext pick after the one shown in full lines.

Fig. 14 is a diagram somewhat similar to Figs. 4 and 5, showing atrigger arm released by a solenoid the electric circuit through which iscontrolled by a feeler carrying contacts.

Fig. 15 is another diagram showing a feeler of the electric contactcarrying type in another location.

L is the lay while 9 is the race. A represents the shuttle box assemblyon the side of the loom opposite the magazine including the cells; 3, 4,5, 6' vertically movable by mechanism indicated by 7.

C represents the shuttle box assembly of two shuttle cells I and 2 whichare movable vertically by any usual mechanism, such as 3.

M is the magazine with four vertical guide ways; 2|, 22, 23 and 24, thebottoms of which come together at 25 so that a bobbin can slip or rolldown to that position on runways. The bobbin shifting is obtained bymeans of cradles such as D at the bottom of the vertical part of eachguideway each operated by one of the four slide bars, P, P, P, P. Thisconstruction is substantially the same as usual but my control devicesare as follows:

G is the sliding shaft of color control which is caused to rotate stepby step by a ratchet moved by pawl 4i pivoted to the link rod N and 42is a check or look gravity pawl so that where, as shown, there are eightteeth on the ratchet, it is moved one-eighth of a revolution by the pawl4| and then held in that position'by pawl 42,

44, 45, 4B and ill represent paddles fixed to this shaft G each havingfingers extending in opposite directions. These fingers are so arrangedas shown in Fig. 6, that their ends 52 are one-eighth of a circumferenceapart. On each slide bar P is a nose such as and each slide bar P isnormally held up-by a spring such as 5|.

As shown in Fig. 6, preferably one paddle finger is normally horizontaland rests on a nose 50 so that as it moves down, it moves a bar P downbut releases it before such finger has moved is moved step by step, theend 52 of one of the fingers will move forty-five-degrees engaging anose 50 on a slide bar P moving it'down against its spring 5| whereby itrocks one of the cradles D thereby spilling outthe bottom bobbin on thatparticular runway but when the end 52 passes beyond the nose 50 itallows the spring 5| to return the slide P to its usual position. Thisallows the cradle D after dropping the bobbin, to turn back into aposition to receive the next bobbin above.

As shown, each cradle. is pivoted and has a pin 28 which enters a' slot29. carried by a slide P, the slot being of such Lv shape that when theslide is forced down, the: cradle tips. out its bobbin and when theslide moves up, the cradle moves into receiving po'sition,all in a'wellknown manner.

To operate the pawl 4i and the ratchet til, I pivot the pawl 4i to-thelink N which extends from the revoker shaft 48 to an adjustingslot inarm I I of actuator O so -that it is moved up'and down with. theactuator O. This actuator O is free to move on astud i land has anotherarm l2 which connects by rod it with" the cutting mechanism lllll.

' around and down and then towards the back and ends at It in a positionto engage a stud ll carried by the transfer dog 26 pivoted at 18 on thetransferrer H and extending back at id in a position to be engaged bythe bunter 29 carried by the lay L when the lay heats up provided thispart 19 of the transfer dog is lifted when the spring I is allowed tooperate. This spring it provides the motive power for actuator O andtends to move it to the position shown in Fig. 5.

This spring ill is prevented from operating by the latch arm fill. Theend of arm Ell engages a notch B! on a trigger arm K pivoted. at 62 andmust be released to permit spring ill to move the arms H, l2, and it.

To release this arm I can use various devices operated from a feeler atthe front of the magazine which moves with its top cell.

As shown, a mechanical feeler F or an electrical feeler 3! is carried bya slide "ll vertically slidable in a guideway in a bracket l8 fastenedto the loom body J. This slide is caused to move up and down with thetop cell l of shuttle box assembly C by a rod It which connects slide Tlwith the bottom of mechanism 8, which raises and lowers the assembly Cin a well known manner, the bottom of rod l9 being pivotally connectedto mechanism 3 near the bottom and near the pivots of the lay.

I can use a feeler F as shown in 9, of a known type with a feelingfinger ill pivoted at H and carried by a slide E2, the finger It beingconnected to a plate l3 which, when the finger ll) slips on the barebobbin and moves on its pivot H is projected under the end "it of arocker R pivoted at IE on the body J of the loom and extending out at E6over the free end $9 of the trigger arm K and preferably around it in aloop so that both must move up and down together. When feeler finger itpivots and plate i3 is moved under the end of t.-e rocker ,arm, asfeeler F is carried by slide '5'! and as the top cell I of this assemblyis still moving upward, this plate 13 rocks the rocker arm and releasesthe trigger arm K.

As shown in Figs. 14 and 15, I can also use a medially pivoted triggerarm 86, with a notch 8i and connected by a wire 82 with a solenoiddevice which is connected to and controlled by a feeler device 3!including a switch 32 to open and to close the circuit indicated by 33.The feeler device Si is at the front of the magazine and movable up anddown with the top cell i, being carried by a slide such as '17 as in themechanical construction.

In either construction, a pin l'i2 on the transferrer H can engage a pinH3 on a slide such as 12 and pull the feeler finger such as 'lll out ofthe shuttle during transfer.

When this feeler 3| slips on the bare barrel of a bobbin it closes acircuit for the solenoid 3B which pulls the wire 82 and lifts the end 83of this trigger arm 88 thus depressing the other end 84 and releasingthe end of the arm 66 from notch 8i thus permitting the spring ill onstud M to lift the arm I! with the link N and pawl 4! and turn the shaftG one-eighth of a revolution and at the same time causing the part I6 ofthe actuator O to engage stud ll thus swinging upward the dog 26 of thetransferrer H into position to be struck by the bunter 20. As the hammerpart 21 of the transfer mechanism, which forces the new bobbin into theshuttle, is connected to and operated by this dog 26, the bobbin istransferred. As it is necessary to reset the parts by moving the armfill back to be engaged'by the notch Bl or 8|, I provide a light spring66 on arm K.

' When the feeler releases the trigger arm from the actuator O, theactuator 0 moves instantly to set the parts for transfer and transfer isaccomplished by the bunter 20 on lay L engagin dog 26 on the next pick.As the lay continues to move forward during transfer, the bunter and dogmove the arm E3 of the actuator forward and arm 12 and link [5 backwhich allows the arm til to again be engaged and held by the notch ti orBl on trigger arm K or 80. As the lay moves back,

dog 26 no longer engages bunter 29 and drops from the dotted lineposition to the full line position shown in Fig. 4 and the parts are nowreset.

The bunter 20 and dog 26 can be so adjusted that the bunter is movingdown in an arc and, during transfer, the dog is moving with itso thatthe box C is being held up by the dog as well as by mechanism 8.

The action of bunter 26 on dog tip it and dog pivot l8 and dog stop H6is such that, as shown in Figs. 3 and 13, pivot I8 is resisting thedownward, forward pressure of bunter 2D and is therefore holding up boxmechanism C.

This arrangement of a dog pivoted to a transferrer arm with a buntercarried by the top of a drop box at a point higher than the dog pivotcan be used under any type "of magazine.

The feeler, the transfer dog; rocker arm and bunter must all becorrectly adjusted with reference to each other because if the risingfeeler moved the rocker arm or solenoid too soon thus releasing thetrigger arm and allowing the actuator to throw up the dog, this dogmight hit the bunter before it moved back from its extreme forwardposition.

In Fig. 12, in full lines, is shown the position of the dog at the timewhen the feeler first comes in contact with the bobbin in the shuttle.In the dotted position is shown the feeler, the shuttle and the bunteras they move upward, the bunter and shuttle moving also forward. Thedotted lines show the extreme forward position of the bunter, the dogthen still being in the down position.

In Fig. 13, the feeler has moved up a still greater distance and in sodoing has brought pin I13 up behind pin H2 and has tripped the triggerarm K and has started the arm I3 of actuator O to throw the dog up intoposition for transfer. In the meantime, however, the shuttle and thebunter have been moving up and back so that the bunter has moved backjust out of the path of the dog as shown in Fig. 13. After this, the layshuttle and bunter continue to move further back and then on the forwardmovement during the next pick, the bunter engages the dog forcing it andthe transferrer back to accomplish the transfer and also moving backpins I12 and I13 and the slide 12 of the feeler carrying the feelingfinger 'Hl so as to take it. out of the shuttle.

If the feeler is at the back of the magazine, it moves when the lay isin the back position and sets the parts for transfer so that as the laybeats up, the transfer could be made immediately if the shuttle with thebobbin to be transferred was in the right position at the front of theloom but the time interval is so short that I find it desirable and inthis application do arrange the feeler on the front side below themagazine and so movable as to follow the top cell and to indicatetransfer near the forward movement instead of near the back. With thisarrangement,

mechanically connected can be used to trip or cock any one of manytransfer or other mechanisms of any loom and I claim it broadly as a newactuating device, but as limited by the numbered claims for any loomwith a vertically movable multiple cell drop box under a magazine. It

can be used to operate the gate of the well known chopper action.

' I claim:

1. The combination in an automatic loom having a stationary magazinecarried by the loom body on one side with a plurality of bobbin givewaysand with bobbin transfer mechanism cooperating with the magazine,together with a vertically reciprocating'shuttle box at each end of thelay and carried thereby, each box having a plurality of shuttle cells,at least two operating shuttles and mechanism to move each shuttle box;the bobbin transfer mechanism including a dog pivoted to a transfer armwith a stop for the dog fixed to the transfer arm, and a bunter carriedat the top cell of the shuttle box on the magazine side in a positionhigher than the dog pivot to engage the free end of the dog, of a feelerslidably mounted on the loom body at the front of the magazine, means tomove the feeler in timed relation to the rising and the fallingmovements of the top cell of the shuttle box on the magazine side;actuating mechanism including a spring to move the transf'er mechanismto transferring position which actuating mechanism is held out of actionby a trigger arm; and said trigger arm; with connections actuated by andconnected to'the feeler between the feeler and the trigger arm torelease the trigger arm from the actuating mechanism.

2. The combination in an automatic loom having a stationary magazinecarried by the loom body on one side with a plurality of bobbinguideways and with spring stressed bobbin transfer mechanism cooperatingwith the magazine and normally held out of transferring position,together with a vertically reciprocating shuttle box carried at each endby the lay and carried therei by, each shuttle box having a plurality ofshuttle cells, at least two operating shuttles and mechanism to moveeach shuttle box, the bobbin a transfer arm and a bunter carried theparts are set for transfer during one forward transfer mechanismincluding a dog pivoted to a transfer arm with a stop for the dog fixedto the transfer arm, and a bunter carried at the top of the shuttle boxon the magazine side in a position higher than the dog pivot; of afeeler slidably mounted on the loom body at the front of the magazine,means to move the feeler in timed relation to the rising and the fallingmovements of the top cell of the shuttle box on the magazine side; withmechanism, actuated by and connected to the feeler, to releasethe bobbintransfer mechanism when the feeler indicates near exhaustion of threadon a bobbin and to initiate action of said mechanism; and mechanism todrop the bottom bobbin in some one of the magazine guideways intoposition to be transferred.

3. In a bobbin-changing loom using a plurality of shuttles and havingvertically shifting shuttle boxes, a reserve bobbin magazine and a weftfeeler all at the same side of the loom; bobbin transfer mechanismincluding a dog pivoted on a transfer arm and a stop to limit its upwardpivotal movement on the transfer arm, and a bunter carried at the top ofthe shuttle boxes on the magazine side in a position higher than the dogpivot to engage the dog; a vertically movable member at said end of theloom connected to the shifting shuttle boxes to rise and fall as saidshuttle boxes rise and fall, said weft feeler mounted on said movablemember for movement therewith to detect the weft in the upper shuttlebox, as the latter rises; and mechanism set in action while the weftfeeler is moving vertically when weft exhaustion is indicated thereby tomove the dog into position to be engaged by the bunter.

4. In a bobbin-changing loom using a plurality of shuttles and having areserve bobbin magazine and vertically shifting shuttle boxes under themagazine together with a weft feeler; bobbin transfer mechanismincluding a dog pivoted on a transfer arm and a stop to limit the upwardpivotal movement of the dog on the transfer arm, and a bunter carried atthe top of the shuttle boxes on the magazine side in a position higherthan the dog pivot to engage the free end of the dog.

5. In a bobbin-changing loom using a plurality of shuttles and having areserve bobbin magazine and vertically shifting shuttle boxes under themagazine, together with a weft feeler; bobbin transfer mechanismincluding a dog pivoted on at the top of the shuttle boxes on themagazine side in a position higher than the dog pivot to engage the freeend of the dog.

JOSEPH STUER.

